Top Law Enforcement Officer is a Liar

Alberto Gonzales is the Attorney General of the United States – the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government. He is also a liar. On January 18, 2007 he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would “never, ever make a change in a United States attorney position for political reasons….” He also denied any involvement in the firings of eight U.S. Attorneys which appear to be politically motivated.
(See the “Timeline: Behind the Firing of Eight U.S. Attorneys” by NPR’s Ari Shapiro.)

It is implausible to believe that the AG was unaware that in 2006 his chief of staff was in communication with the White House, i.e., Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, to discuss removing U.S. Attorneys they felt were not toeing the Republican, er, sorry, the “Bushie” part line. If we are to buy that, then we’d have to believe that both George and Al were completely oblivious to the machinations of their underlings and minions; that the politically motivated restructuring and awarding of U.S. Attorney positions as spoils of war (against their own administration presumably) to friends was done completely without their knowledge.

Sampson, the AG’s Chief of Staff who liaised between the Office of the AG and the White House, has so far been one of the fall guys. As we’ve come to learn in the past with the Bush administration, the buck doesn’t stop here. It doesn’t stop at all. The craven lack of accountability just goes on and on. Bush continues to reaffirm his faith in Al. Which leads one to believe that Al must have some really good dirt on George.

George is pathologically incapable of admitting mistakes. His staunchness in the face of his party, and the Congress, and the ill winds Al betides for George’s own administration, indicate that as his credibility continues to slip through his hands like water, he continues to tighten his grasp. Still, Alberto’s days as Attorney General are numbered. Every day more information comes out that Al was not the victim of conniving subordinates that he attempts to make himself out as. He had knowledge.

The memos are coming out, which indicate that Al was indeed part of the discussion to fire the U.S. Attorneys. If he was part of the discussion, and he was, then he had to have known that the firings were not about performance, but about political retribution and paying back attorneys who were not living up to the Republican ideals of protecting their patrons and giving a blind eye to those in power.

The question now is how blatantly the Bush administration thinks it can lie to Congress and get away with it. Alberto lied to Congress in his denial of having knowledge and in the firings not being politically motivated. Bush won’t let Rove or Miers testify on the record for fear that they could be held for perjury in face of the lies they would have to spew. They would get caught in their lies of course. Their arrogance has made the sloppy, and made them enemies.

What is the worst thing about all of this is that while Alberto Gonzales is a hypocrite and a liar, he also is the top law enforcement officer in the land. And with callous disregard for his office, and the attorneys who serve him, and the Congress, and the people of the United States, he, like Bush, is through his actions giving us the finger.

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